Rajasthan ACB busts bribery racket in Transport Department, seizes cash worth Rs 1.20 cr

The Rajasthan Anti-Corruption Bureau has busted a bribery racket in the state's Transport Department, seizing cash worth Rs 1.20 crore from private agents, officials said on Monday. On Sunday night, the ACB arrested Transport Inspector Udaiveer Singh while accepting a bribe of Rs 40,000 from private agent Manish Mishra, they said. Seven other officers and six private agents were also detained, ACB officials said.

A probe was ordered after the ACB received complaints from transport company owners four months ago that district transport officers were collecting monthly bribes through private agents by threatening to cancel their registrations.

"Investigations were carried out to verify information following which the action was taken," ACB DG Alok Tripathi said.

Additional Director General (ADG) ACB Dinesh M N said 17 teams were formed which raided 13 locations in Jaipur, three in the outskirts and one in Rewari in Haryana. Shahjahanpur DTO Gajendra Singh, Chomu DTO Vinay Bansal, Jaipur headquarters DTO Mahesh Sharma, RTO inspectors Shivcharan Meena, Alok Budhaniya and Ratan Lal were detained, he said. Private agents Jaswant Singh Yadav, Vishnu Kumar, Mamta, Bunty, Ranveer, Vishnu Kaushik and Pawan alias Pehalwan were also detained, he added.

The matter was raised in the Rajasthan Assembly on Monday. Rajasthan Transport Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas said the action was taken to eliminate corruption in the state Transport Department.

"The Congress government's aim is to end corruption. I assure that justice will be done with those who are not guilty. Innocent officers need not be afraid if ACB team arrives, whereas corrupt officials will not be spared," Khachariyawas told reporters outside the House.